Yup'ik elders of southwest Alaska recall, "Our ancestors were never heavy with a tool kit." They carried in their minds what they needed to live rich lives in the harsh environment of the Bering Sea coast. Frank Andrew, Sr. (1917-2006), was one of the few elders to bring this knowledge into the twenty-first century.

Not only did Frank Andrew possess knowledge and wisdom--he shared it. For five years before his death he worked tirelessly with Yup'ik translators Alice Rearden and Marie Meade and anthropologist Ann Fienup-Riordan to document his knowledge of life on the Bering Sea...